Spies, Traitors, Saboteurs

Portsmouth, Woolwich, Deptford, Chatham, Plymouth and Sheerness were the major dockyards supporting the British navy for hundreds of years, joined by Rosyth during the early twentieth century. These dockyards ensured the Royal Navy, Britain’s first line of defence, was capable of putting to sea, with dockyards building and maintaining the fleet. The importance of these yards did not go unnoticed by those who counted themselves as enemies of Great Britain, with those enemies diverting their resources to both attempting to attack and destroy those yards or sending spies into the dockyard towns to seek out the secrets of the navy. This book tells this little known story of the spies, traitors and saboteurs who sought to undermine Britain’s naval strength at sea by way of either bringing physical damage to those yards or eliciting the secrets of ships being designed in those yards or those under construction.

Illustrated throughout, this fascinating account of clandestine attacks on the Royal Navy’s dockyards will appeal to all those with an interest in Britain’s naval history as well as those interested in the history of these coastal towns and cities.